JOURNEY TO JAPAN’S PAST
have remained so if not for the U.S. Navy.
A flotilla known locally as the Black Ships anchored in the bay in 1853 to persuade Japan to open to foreign trade after centuries of isolation under the Tokugawas.
Yokohama was designated as one of Japan’s first international ports and helped usher it into the modern age with the country’s first newspaper, bank, Western-style hotel and baseball game. Barely 160 years later, it’s a city of 3.7 million, Japan’s second largest after Tokyo, and still proud of its 19th century heritage. What to see: On my recent trip to Yokohama, I took an urban hike across the city and through history. It started with a climb uphill from the subway station from Tokyo to the Foreigner General Cemetery (open weekends and national holidays March-December) established in 1861 on the west side of town.
A small exhibit of photo reproductions and woodblock prints illustrates the early days of the foreigners’ settlement. From here it’s an easy downhill walk to Yamashita Park along the bay.
In the city center, the Yokohama Archives of History (closed Mondays; admission about $2) are built around the Japanese bay tree where Commodore Matthew Perry of the U.S. Navy signed the open-port treaty with representatives of the shogun; it’s now a museum about the opening of the port.
Yokohama didn’t get to be Japan’s second-largest city by sitting on its 19th century laurels, as evidenced by the waterside business district that includes Minato Mirai 21 Area (Future Port 21).
It has some of Japan’s tallest skyscrapers, a Ferris wheel, a contemporary art venue (BankART 1929; admission varies) and even the Cupnoodles Museum (closed Tuesdays; admission about $4.50), where visitors can custom-build their own cup of noodles. Where to eat: It wasn’t just Westerners who settled in Yokohama. It’s also home to Japan’s largest Chinatown, filled with a reported 500 restaurants and food shops. It’s one of the few spots I know in Japan where eating on the street is condoned. How to get there: From Shibuya Station in southwest Tokyo, the Toyoko commuter rail line runs to Yokohama Station and connects, without transfer, to the Minatomirai Line to Motomachi-Chukagai Station (close to the Foreigners’ Cemetery and Chinatown) in about 40 minutes. Fare is about $4.